Clasp for garment-supporters.



No. 765,721. EATBNTED JULY 26, 1904. e. W. TRAUTY CLASP FOR GARMENT SUPPORTERS.

APPLIUAIIOR FILED NOV. 19, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented July 26, 1904.

PATENT CEETQE.

CLASP FOR GARMENT-SUPPORTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,721, dated July 26, 1904.

Application filed November 19, 1903. Serial No. 181,852. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE WV. TRAUT, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps for Garment- Supporters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to garment-clasps of that type wherein a bight of the material is confined in a slot wide at the upper and narrow at the lower end, the invention being particularly applicable to clasps in which the bight of the garment itself wedges into the narrow end of the opening, although it is also applicable to those clasps adapted for use with a stud or headed member over which the bight of the garment is placed.

The objects of the invention are to provide a clasp of ample strength and wearing qualities and in which the bight of the garment may be pinched so tightly as to insure its secure retention without danger of cutting, wearing, or injuring the garment.

To these ends the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be now described, and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective View of a portion of a stocking-supporter provided with a clasp embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view of the clasp with the parts separated. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the clasp. Fig. 4 is a plan View showing a modification.

. Like letters of reference indicate the same parts.

The supporter illustrated is of the wellknown type of gentlemans garter embodying a band A for embracing the limb of the wearer, with a detachable coupling B to facilitate application and removal of the supporter. Depending from the band A is a pendant C, to the lower end of which the clasp Dis attached. This clasp according to the present invention is made of sheet metal, but of double thickness, with a keyhole or downwardly tapering central opening, through which a bight of the garment to be supported is passed and wedged down into the narrow enc.

It has heretofore been proposed to prevent the cutting and abrasion of the garment by rounding the edges of the opening in the clasp or by inserting rounded metal, soft rubber, or yielding walls, between which the garment would be pinched or held. In the present instance I insert a hard non-metallic nonabrasive garmentengaging.edge or edges, between which the garment is held or pinched. As shown in the drawings, the garment-engaging edges are formed of celluloid, (indicated at E,) although other hard non-metallic and non-abrasive materials, such as vulcanized fiber, may be employed. The insert E is usually in the form of a substantially V- shaped piece and is mounted in a pocket formed between the two thicknesses of metal constituting the body of the clasps.

In forming the body of the clasp it is struck up from sheet metal, with the two portions joined together at F, the blank being subsequently doubled back at this point, which then forms the lower end or nose of the clasp. The upper ends of the blank are preferably held together by cars on one part bent around the edge of the other part. These ears may be at the upper extremity of the clasp, as at G, so as to be concealed by the web, as in Figs. 1 and 2, or they may be below the webbing-bar, as at H, in Fig 4.

The recess for the insert is stamped in the two sections when the blank is struck up, and it is preferably of such shape as to retain the insert securely in position, the preferred shape being shown in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein it will be seen that the top wallsl of the pocket tend to hold the upper ends of the insert separated.

The inner edges of the insert project sufliciently to prevent the garment from contact with the metal, and experience shows that with a hard non-metallic and non-abrasive material such as described while the garment will be held securely and firmly it will not be cut or worn and at the same time the metallic body of the clasp will afford sufiicient strength to prevent the breaking of the device under severe strains or rough usage.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A clasp for garment-supporters formed with an opening Wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, the inner garment-engaging edges of said opening being formed by a hard non-metallic and non-abrasive material projecting sufiiciently to prevent the garment from being pinched against the body of the clasp; substantially as described.

2. A clasp for garment-supporters formed of two thicknesses of metal with an opening GEORGE W. TRAUT.

Witnesses THOMAS DURANT,

ELIZABETH GRIFFITH. 

